Demon Slayer: Foreign Metal
by ManInABeanie
Summary: A man from a land outside of Japan arrives at a time where the Demon population ran rampant. Unknown to the whole fiscal and what lays before him, he continues his journey to find out the spot his parents perished in. A prequal to the main series of Demon Slayer.
1. He Shouldn't Have That Blade

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. A pair of golden eyes opened up inside the rage of the blizzard. They pierced through like a snow leopard in the desert. Exposed to the pray from a mile away.

Smoke simmered around the owner's body. A outline of his body quickly formed around the blizzard. He pressed forward like nothing bothered him. He was scarred for the instant; komoto torn to nothing more than a rag around his and and shoulders, his under shirt was missing below the metal elongated diamond on his chest. His skin was blue from frostbite, stiffened his motions as he moved.

"Iron breathing technique, form two." His skin gradually returned to the normal tan pigment his was used to.

His grip tightened around the massive buster sword in his hand. He rose his other forearm over his eyes, his sword's flat edge swung up and rested on the blood soaked skin. The sword started to glow and heat up and burn the top of his skin.

His muscles tightened and flexed down to his flesh. Each vein popped out and brightened red in color.

A tunnel of heat barrelled ahead through the blizzard's blindness effect. Another person's face came into view on the other side. Hair and eyes white as the snow around them, camouflaged to near perfection. Only the black characters for " lower six" made him stand out. Even his skin changed color to better fit around his surroundings.

"You're not as weak as I thought at the start of this battle." His voice echoed through each powerful snowflake around him. "Regular demon hunters never stand this long around us."

He huffed, pressing his feet deeper into the layer of snow. "You twelve are nothing more than a special type of demon. A pain on my ass."

"You'll see the true power of our lord in true sight." His snow over powered the heat circle that was created. "You'll freeze, eat you like a popsicle."

His eyes closed and his lungs absorbed as much oxygen he could do. Without the use of eyesight, his sense of hearing rose exponentially. The sounds of how the snow impacted and swirled changed from just the white noise. Each flake hit differently, from speed to size, and strength.

It was subtle but still painfully noticable. The special demon art this one used allowed him to hide within the weather. And up in these mountains, laid snow that he empowered beyond normal. Temperatures dropped bellowing freezing; making him attack with the feeling of ice and without a change in the snow itself.

There was no denying how powerful this demon was with his blood art. Any normal Demon Slayer would've died within the initial trap of the weather.

"My name is Alistair! My father forged the handle of my sword, my mother forged the guard of my cross-guard."

"Why do I care about you? You're body tastes the same no matter."

Each syllable slightly changed how the snow maneuvered around. It was like his voice controlled how the snow moved around, and his voice only created vibrations in the snow flakes.

"I was told you might now what happened to them in that forge. To the people inside."

"Nobody in the human population is strong enough to be remembered. You're passions are nothing more than uneeded"

"Iron breathing technique form three." He whispered inside the monologue. His body swung around in a perfect circle and slashed down at a selective angle.

Blood splattered through the snow and revealed the demon behind. His eyes were strained and feared the Demon Slayer for the first time of his life. The massive five inch wide sword slashed through the demon's white body. His head and down to his right arm separated from the rest of the body.

He was able to grab the demon's throat and chuck his body into the woods. His body flashed right next to the sack of flesh and stabbed his sword into demon and into the tree.

"I can't fail him, the power he gave me should've made me stronger than any of you!" The demon screamed and struggled with his one arm. Even though it was pointless and did nothing.

Alistair's breathing became heavy and slow. Yet the steam continued through the exterior of his body as it released all the tension and abnormalities. Everything this battle put in through finally set in.

It was like a hammer repeatedly bashed his muscles during a marathon while he curled fifty pounds. His legs gave out right in of the demon's pinned body. It wasn't like it even noticed how helpless the Demon Slayer was in the moment. One attack with all it had could take him out without struggle.

"Who the hell is he?" Alistair asked. He stared into empty space as he huffed with each word. His vision became a red blur, to him his vision became cloudy while his eyes popped vessels over and over again.

"Don't act so stupid in front of me. Don't give me that pity." His squirming stopped and looked down to Alistair. "A few lucky shots doesn't make you any stronger than my master."

Alistair couldn't have realize the strike behind him. A solid build up of snow formed around his grounded arms. The ice cold formation took over his wrist and buried them beneath the earth. A larger formation snuck up behind and pinned his head into the ice.

Blood splattered from the blunt force, the red slashed against the tree and onto the demon. His eyes rolled back in his head with orgasmic shock. In an instant the rest of his body regrew and forced himself off the sword.

"As vile and rude as you've been to me and my master. You fought well. Stronger than most hunters I've encountered." The demon ran his tongue up the tree trunk, licking up all the blood in the path. "But your battle ends here."

A flurry came through the tree line. The full tsunami wall surrounded the two in a pure white typhoon. In moments it became just Alistair in the eye of the storm. Helpless, alone.

Alistair's breath changed, rapid but in a understood tempo. Each one the same depth and spaced between each other. The veins in his arms rushed heavy with blood. His fingers dug into the snow an scrunched the snow into his palms.

The gold moons of his eyes regained back the vision lost. He noticed just in time as the demon before him disappeared back into the snow. His legs flexed and tensed so hard his muscles ripped. Both his legs healed up and positoned below his waist.

The vortex became inches away from his body. Loose pellets of ice flung out from the storm and slashed against Alistair's body. His blood simmered against the frozen air and slightly burned his skin.

"Form 3." His eyes perfectly followed of the speed produced. Time didn't slow neither did the vortex's speed. Yet he saw it slow down fast enough for him to see the gaps. "Hammer strike."

His legs launched him through like a torpedo. He curled his legs into his chest and spun with a flip. Only a few cuts of the ice managed to cut his arms, but left relativity unscaved.

His body sprung open on the other side into a giant 'X'. He clasped his arms together and adjusted his legs to springboard in front of him. First his legs landed on the tree before his arms could grab the sword's handle.

The muscles in his legs enlarged even further for his jump. He flipped backwards off the tree with the sword in hand. He twirled his body around and held his sword above his head. The power built from his legs transferred up to his arms for the swing.

In Alistair's eyes he saw exactly where the demon hid inside the vortex. Right where his attack had to be. He tried to move faster and faster with each step in his evasion attempt. But Alistair still saw him perfectly.

All of a sudden he stopped in his tracks and looked directly into Alistair's eyes. A power move he couldn't look past, it made him nerved and uneasy. He pulled back on his attack, slashed before the vortex and swung his body around.

Even with this sudden shift in attack, the pure generated force created a hurricane magnitude wind blast. It managed to pushed the demon back and out of the vortex.

The boy smashed into the snow and twirled through the ground. Alistair didn't slow down his attack nor stop at the opportunity. "From 4!" He twirled the sword above his head and impaled it into the ground. "Hammer of Dawn." His body spun in a full circle and roundhouse kicked the sword into the demon.

Alistair followed quick behind his attack. Just as he predicted he watched the demon dodge to the side. Alistair himself jumped to the right if th sword and kicked it again in the opposite direction. He ran around again and surrounded the demon. He punched the demon's gut and bashed his heel into its face. Cracks shocked out and twisted him into the sword.

There was no time. Only enough for him to realize the imminent death. The blade sliced clean vertically through the demon. A straight cut from one end to the other.

Alistair grabbed the sword's handle and swung the blade back at the demon. A horizontal swing across the neck. Four chunks of flesh plopped to the ground while he stood in his pose. In seconds the body fizzled into ash and drift into air.

That's when the pain set in. The sword became too much for him to hold. The metal clinked to the ground and sunk through the snow. He fell back to the ground face first, unable to move his body around for anything. His breathing technique stopped and allowed for the pain to rush through. The blood poured out faster and went on to freeze his body. For a few moments it felt nice for his body heat to cool down to the perfect temp. Then it wasn't, it came down below below the needed amount. His body began to freeze and follow with hypothermia.

"You Demon Slayers are so naive."

The voice made Alistair jump out of his near unconcious body.

He didn't see it but the demon walked out from the vortex. Through all this time he never once saw if the vortex has stopped. And now he saw what he really saw. It was a clone of the demon, wore the same clothes but the body was entirely snow. The final attack for nothing at the end, a powerful attack against an advanced snowman.

"Never really think I'd think of this?" He asked as he walked up. She knelt down o Alistiar's head and pulled it up. "Foolish. Idiotic." The snow surrounded Alistair's body and lifted him up into the air. "Shortsided, weak. It takes more than just a few straight hits to take one of us specially selected. Maybe your next battle in another life will show you that."

There was nothing to do at this point. Death was only moments away and there was nothing he could do about it. Body frozen and entrapped in the snow from the neck down. And his sword far from his grasp.

Yet nothing happened. He knew it wasn't just his mind slowly dying from oxygen loss that made this reality. Truly nothing was going on. Two men frozen in time.

"Hey-o." A very high pitch voice jolted him back to conciousness. "Hey-o." The voice called again. "Do you got this or else I can help you!"

"Please." Alistair's broken voice scratched out.

The demon swirled around in a complete 180. The snowstorm flurried through the trees; effectively it dropped the weather around them another twenty degrees and blinded everything five inches out. He turned back to Alistair. His footsteps led toward Alistair as his arms covered in layers of snow.

"I won't let him down. I can't let him down!" He held his fists into where Alistair's chest would be. "I'll do it myself!"

His eyes went wide while his body thrusted forward with his arms straight up into the air. The demon struggled to grab onto Alstair. He eventually fell to the ground and scratched at his feet.

"That was easy."

In minutes the demon's body disappeared. 3But this time was for real. Then the snow followed suit. Green, lush, vibrant plants revealed themselves.

Alistair's body became released from his prison. His body collapsed into the patch of flowers below him, a small grunt came out as he landed.

A new person went inside Alistair's shallow vision. The figure was slim and short, at least a foot from what he could tell. And purple, a whole lot of purple in the green blur.

"Are you okay?"


	2. The man, the Myth, the Master

What was left of the battle field returned to normal. All the trees contained their green leaves, flowers bloomed once again, and the weather was normal. With the demon's battle gone, Alistair's battle wouldn't be written in history. Even as a fable it would be a far stretch back in his home.

Somehow most of his wounds lost the sensation of pain. He was sore no doubt about it but he still managed to move on his own. It might've been frostbite that froze all the entrances of his wounds and cauterized the blood. Or it was because of the girl.

He was propped up against that tree that was once covered in blood. Whoever this girl was, she was an expert in medicine, or at least field medicine. A mixture of oils were applied along the span of his arms and chest and applied pressure with bandages.

Underneath his injuries laid a pure purple bruised chest. His muscles were torn and his blood bled from the inside. His lungs suffered from both sides of action, nearly impossible to I flare and when they did they asked for death. A crushed sternum was definitely in effect as well as a possible a collapsed lung.

Yet the girl at his side kept him calm, aroused, and feared at the same time. It was those eyes matched with that smile, a solid purple eye pair that he never once saw. And with a smile like hers, it made it impossible to tell how she felt without words. Feared, cautious, safe, nothing was the right one.

Only one sentence was spoken between them. And her voice settled the doubt he had in his mind. As uncertain he was of her, her voice made him calm. Still hesitant but trusted her nether the less.

The last tighten of his wrists made him flinch. His body jerked into him as his head curled the same way. The woman giggled at his reaction to the pain.

Alistair blushed, his eyes went wide and stared forward at his realization of what he did. Her soft hands caressed his and patted his back hand. "How cute." Her eyes locked in with his after she grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her.

"You can talk now." She said. "The oils should have revived the flow of oxygen through your system by now."

"What the hell was that? He kept calling me a 'Demon Slayer'." Alistair asked, his voice still deep and scratched.

"Your face and voice speaks as if you're not from around here. Does your land have people abnormal from the regular population?" She asked, never once did she break eye contact from him. Which ultimately freaked him out more.

"We're all the same in my land, I lived in a castle but essentially it's the same as here. Whoever this guy was, a uh, demon, that he called himself isn't like our people."

"So your home doesn't have demons. Then why do you have this weapon? You seem kind've dumb carrying something you don't understand."

The smile on her face now irritated Alistair. It was like she didn't see him as an equal or just wanted to make fun of his incompetence. "I don't understand it but my family left it to me before they left for here." Alistair nodded over to his sword. "There's a small piece of paper inside the guard. Pull it out."

She still smiled as she got up and pulled off the paper he described. She sat right next to him again and unrolled it on the ground. It was a map with boundaries lined around the bodies of land. A curved line of 'x's was drawn all over till it reached a small island on the corner of the map with another 'x' on it.

"For the past eight months I traveled here and tried to find my parents. Of course learning Japanese as a child should've told me to come here first but I didn't see the connection till two weeks ago. But anyways. My mother and father smithed that sword shortly before their trip east. I need to find them."

"You did come to the right place. The metal your sword is made of is only constructed here. A rare material with the ability to kill demons. The only thing to exist to kill them."

"Rare metals usually requires rare blacksmiths." He looked at the sword with the butterfly guard. He finally noticed the look to this girl. Her butterfly hairpiece that kept her purple ends up, the style her komoto was in. It was cute in his eyes. His immediate reaction was to cough on the siliva he nervously downed. "Um, I need to find the blacksmiths that can use it. Maybe they know something of my parents."

She stood back up and looked down at Alistair. "I'll need to take you to the master before any choice can be made."

"Choice? I just need to know somebody who can continue my path."

"You ignorant boy." She snickered.

Alistair grew in anger. He crossed his legs and used the muscles to push himself up without the use of his arms. Her head was just at the size of his chest, he used this height in an attempt to scare her. But her smile still held as she tilted her head up to look at him.

"I can't go back empty handed. Their notes, journals, colleagues, all led me to here. I'm at a dead end till I find these blacksmiths."

"The trade is a secret in my profession. Only a handful of people know how to do it and are extremely protected. Someone in your state couldn't lift a finger to get that information."

His back arched down till his forehead connected with her's. "I don't care about the process. The materials. I came for my family. I want to bury them the way our ancestors did years ago."

"Maybe if you tell my master that, he'll give you a hand. But speaking like that won't get me to help you either."

He bit his tongue in an attempt to hold his anger. He knew his intimidation had no effect on her, not with his arms out of action at least. "Please."

"Okay! Follow me." Her body twirled around like a princess, again causing his mind to wander with her. The mix feeling of emotions was like nothing he ever saw. It was beautiful.

"I'm sorry, I never caught your name. My name is Alistair, girl's stare, and my friends call me Ally."

"Does that line usually work on the women in your land?"

He smirked, he realized her skills also translated to how independent she was from everyone else. She didn't see him as anyone special than a person with a sword. "It worked once, my dad taught it to me to be fair though. What's yours? I'd like to call you more personally."

"Kocho."

She bent down and tried to pick the sword up with no avail. Now it was Alistair's turn to get the upper hand laugh in. He tilted his body over the weapon and grabbed the handle. "It's about twenty kilos in weight. A small girl like you should've had the strength to do it. No need to flirt with me with strength."

"I just wanted to see your face wince like how I tightened your bandage."

"Hardy, har lass." He whispered, sliding she sword into the sheath on his side. He looked down at the ground after he realised the joke she made. The sword's blade was slice in half and was cracked from the left over chunk down. Instantly, he pulled the sword back and and inspected the ruined weapon. "Fuck."

She laughed again. "I'm surprised it took you this long to realize your predicament."

"Let's just go." He grumbled.

She kept her promise toward Alistair and brought him to another location by night. It was a home surrounded by purple flowers from the entrance to the end of the property.

For Alistair, every book he read described a place like this in Japan. A rectangular home made of one flat material that allowed the utmost sunlight through. It was a beautiful home in every sense, the perfectly laid gravel with stone paths, blossomed trees, and a rich smell engraved in everything.

Not even the silence was a disturbance to him. Compared to the loud stone floors from boots clanking down each hall, servants called and calling in every direction. It was nice and smooth on his ears.

The two circled to the back of the property. Where the only difference was a open back end of the home with the roof still completely over it. Two other people stood in stance at the back end as well.

Kocho's hand waved to the first guy she saw. A moody fellow, his back was toward the two and head sunken down to the small pond. "Hi-oh!" Her voice called to him.

The boy with black hair turned back to them. His face was plain, bored, even tired while it being only midday. A sword was hidden at his hip as well. It was left sheathed and unattended, but his shoulders showed how ready he was to use it.

Kocho sped off ahead while she continued to wave at him. "Tomioka! We've arrived aren't you going to greet us and say hi back?" She called out.

The half naked man in nothing more than a kilt caught up to him. The man was also a quite bit smaller than him. Not quite a foot but didn't meet his eyes. And half the size in body size. Without a sword of Alistair's, this man had all the advantages either way.

"My mother use to warn me; 'when one armed man brings you to another, they aren't there to kill you'." Alistair narrowed his eyes into the bored stare of the other. "So you the master?"

The girl laughed and playfully smacked her stiff palm onto his head. "Tomioka isn't even the strongest one here. Or the most liked."

"People like me." He shyly spoke.

"Is she it?" Alistair pointed at the woman with her arms in front of her. All colorfully pink and green.

"She's not him either." Tomioka answered. "He's not here yet."

Alistair fixed his attention to Kocho. "You'd said I'd meet the sod."

"I sent him a message before I saved you so he'll be on his way. We'll just have to wait for his arrival."

"You're lucky Kocho and the master was near. Or else it could've been longer."

"And that you're near my home! I can properly heal you then."

A grin grew on Alistair's face faster than he could react. Tomioka's face also showed a change, not through wrinkles or gazes, a shift in the soul. "I'd like that, lass."

The next thing he knew, he was twisted around and knees pinned to the ground. His face instantly shifted into anger. There was no feeling then the pressure of two hands. He snapped his head back and pinned the hand around his neck. His left grabbed the other on his calf, and his other firmly wrapped wrapped around their neck.

In one fluid motion the used both his arms and flipped the person over his body. Alistiar hesitated at the sight of green and pink. He never noticed her sprint a handful of dozen yards without a single sound. Yet here she was pinned on the ground with his arm around her neck. Her right arm kept her head just off the ground while the other snuggly locked in his chest.

He looked around for the two others, both of them in the same position as the girl. His head swerved forward; twin children in height, hair, and eyes covered both the sides of a heavily scarred man. His face covered in a purple burn and eyes white out.

In Alistair's home, scars showed the strength in a person. In or out of battle told their family their willpower to continue. He could be the weakest soldier on the field but the utmost respected.

Alistair released the woman after realizing his fault. The respect for this man was higher than everyone else, conversation, or battle.

"Kocho, please introduce me to this man." His voice was soft, unaffected by the injuries he faced. Like his soul was untouched by the darkness in his mind.

"He's Alistair from a foreign land. The rest is something I currently do not know."

"Sir Alistair, would you mind filling in the details?"

Alistair stood up with his arms behind his back, his back stair and puffed, his legs together, and eyes on the master. "Lord Alistair Cornet. Second son of Alistair Cornet and Leana Cornet. I come from the province of Scotland, a land surrounded by water from the west of this and the main land."

"Lord you say? In which sense does that title hold?"

"Politically none. My family's people merely give us that title in honour. We control a very small section of the country free from other's control. As it stands it's held throughout Scotland as a sign of respect, sir."

"I too give my respects toward your cause. My family runs defending others from the occupation from others. In a way I share the same title as you. I welcome you to my home."

Alistair went down to one knee with his right arm on his knee. "Sir, pardon my rudeness. With introductions out of the way, I'd like to run straight to business, sir."

"I understand the pressure you must be under from being so far from home. But with my family, their safety comes first, as something you must understand."

"Of course, sir."

"My biggest concern is what each of my children hold. The sword you used is exclusively held within my family with no outsiders knowledge of it. How is it that you came here with one without any knowledge of us?"

"Nine months ago I received a crate from an unknown sender contain journals of my family's records and this sword. And eight months ago I retraced their steps to here. The sword I hoped brought me to wherever I needed to go. And I hope I'm right."

"You are right to come here for answers of your sword, but coming here does not bring answers to your parents. I have no knowledge on them or how they obtained the sword. I await on the reply on one man that may know of why they contained one of our weapons."

"Don't mind mind my rudeness, sir. But it sounds as if there is a part you're leaving out."

"As I can't risk these secrets being revealed on the outside. I extend a invitation to join the Demon Slayer Corps. Since normal means of trials cannot be performed in the time span we have, abnormal ones must be taken if you decide to join."

"As long as it brings me to my family, I do what I must. But please understand that I can't stay when my business ends here. My return home is important to me."

"I do and accept. Under oath I hope you keep the information to yourself as you travel back."

"Please inform me what it is I must do."

"Since you have already have physical participation of each other, a simple skirmish to determine your position here." Alistair turned to the woman to his right. "Mitsuri Kanroji."


	3. A Cause For A Cause

One of the twins stepped to the end of the open platform with a black sheath and blade in her hands. She knelt back down right on the crack and held out the weapon. At the same time, Mitsuri and Alistair got up from their respective honored stance. The girl went right as Alistair went forward to the twin's offered hands.

He grabbed hold of the sheath and pulled it toward his chest faster than expected. The whole container was doubly lighter than what he was used to. And half the size width of his own blade. Just at the first grab he lost his confidence in this fight.

The twin got back up immediately and returned in the same step pattern behind the master. The master himself just smiled without any visible signs of bias. Alistair legitimately did not know if this was supposed to be an easy win or to put him in his place.

But the girl was half his size, her legs and arms were twigs compared to him along with all else. Yet he was more than aware she was capable to handle herself. She nor any of the others would be weaker than Kocho.

Mitsuri stood around thirty to fifty paces from Alistair. She stood nervous for a girl so loud and open; her knees touched each other and her arms covered her chest. Even though Alistair only watched her eyes, she appeared shy.

The sheath slid right off the solid steel katana. A small thud of the rocks splashed onto each other as to avoid the carrier. All the while he never once lost sight of his target. He waited for the very same second the sound disappeared into the atmosphere.

Each vein in his legs bulged out far enough for the blood trails to show. Both his feet pressed through the layer of rocks. A small gust of wind followed suit. His first swing came before her first blink of the skirmish.

He held the blunt edge of the sword close to his arm, feeling the cold metal ease his tension. He stopped a mere foot into a standstill. His left leg lifted in the air and used his right to kick himself up into the air. Alistair flipped over Mitsuri, his open arm grabbed her neck and hurled himself into her.

In an inhuman move, her body swirled completely around Alistair's attack. As he slashed down with his sword; her shoulder tucked behind her and twirled around the sword itself. Her muscles in her neck were stronger than Alistair's grip. She grabbed the hilt of her sword and pounded it into his sternum. It his way stronger than he ever felt, he lost both grips he contained and went limp.

Her foot came up into Alistair's unprepared face. The tip of her boot kicked into his head and threw him across her back end. She came after him with the entirety of her pink sword out.

Alistair stopped his hyperventilative breathing. He controlled how he breathed, relaxing his lungs. He awaited the girl's upbringing, for that first swing. His arm lunged out and grabbed the weirdly flexibility of the sword. No blood poured from his fingers as he gripped into the edge. Even as the the rest of the sword wrapped his arm none of it penetrated him.

The shy-ness and blushed girl finally changed her facial structure. She was genuinely surprised for the battle. And Alistair loved it, he had to win, his goals depended on a victory. But now it was for his own personal ego. He flexed his arm and dragged her into him.

His boots landed front to back in a shoulder's space. His arm bashed into the ground and grabbed. Alistair's other arm hurled down the girl. She was just as ready as he was; landing on her feet, back to him.

Alistair continued his offensive strike, he ran up behind her and circled with her own weapon. He squeezed as hard as he could around her body. She was small and thin but her body felt just as strong as him at half the size. Still he had the higher amount of strength against any of his opponents. It wasn't about how much he could lift, or toss, or hold. His mental strength never ended. He squatted down with his power and launched both of them back.

It wasn't a half hazard move in his eyes compared to the others. Both of their bodies spun for her to land into the ground instead. She calculated the move while in the air and swirled the bent blade out of them. Their momentum doubled, but more so in Alistair's moment. He grabbed his own fallen sword and mounted himself back to the ground with it.

His eyes followed Mitsuri's final moments in the air for her light body touch the ground. "Iron breathing technique, form three." One of his hands directed down as the other was straight up.

He tore the rocks with furious speed. His feet drove forward while the sword remained impaled. He stopped suddenly and spun with dust rising all around him. Then there was nothing of him, nobody saw him and he saw nobody. But he felt them all, the heat they gave off compared to the rest of the world.

Alistair looked at his sword, a solid black blade with a red vein at the base. It was new, or at least something he didn't notice before. His eyes went back up and looked back up into Mitsuri's heat signature. His foot smashed forward and the sword thrusted forward.

The blade slashed through the smoke and right past Mitsuri. Whether the girl was hardly paying attention, Alistair managed to burst right next to her. Her dazed eyes became inches away from his hand. He locked around her neck and lifted her body high into the air.

Alistair looked down at his side. It pounded profusely and became more wet. The handle of his sword showed before his gut. He looked more around his body three more points of penetration from that wobbly sword.

The veins in Alistair's body bulged with steam. She pulled the sword with desperation but not an inch moved. Alistair spat the built up blood from mouth onto her hand. It burned enough of her skin to release her sword.

Alistair grabbed the handle and twisted it around his side. "In my country, a certain way I fight determines how my body works." His grip tightened around her neck and smashed her into the ground. "My mom learned it from you! Use it!" His feet twisted around and tossed her into the building. "I win my battles fairly, now use yours!"

She looked up at her master. "He snapped my arm."

Alistair stopped and pulled the sword from his body. Then his own. He tossed over Mutsuri's sword at her feet and weld his sword at his elbow.

"Please quit the fighting." The master asked. "Mitsuri is a vital part of our group. She is known as a pillar, the elite select few. Injuring her and you would not be a great outcome for us."

"But stabbing me four times is alright? Heh?" He stabbed the sword into the ground. "Nah it's alright."

"Each one of your attacks were non vital, so your words were a lie." The boy behind them silently spoke. He went next Alistair and grabbed the impaled sword. "And with a unique blade." He looked at Alistair. "So why didn't you try but demand the best?"

"Because bloodshed only demands more bloodshed. Wars don't end because I killed more than they did. If I can't win by either being smarter or stronger, I'm just skipping to the next stone." He went over to Mitsuri and knelt down to her. "I wouldn't kill her. Or even break her. I'd just fight her until she knew she couldn't win."

"Your breathing technique is unique to any of the other pillars. Where does it come from?" The master asked.

"My parents. Believe it or not it's not super powers. It just allows me to adjust my body tension and heat deposition. Other than that, zero clue."

"For as dumb and ridiculous your moves were, you still held your own against Mitsuri." Kocho patted against one of Alistair's open wounds.

Alistair snapped on Kocho's hand and twirled the woman to the front of his body. It snapped up forward to her arm and pulled her into his body. His forehead tapped hers as his arm kept her body to his.

"See?" He looked up to the master then back at Kocho's red and flushed face. "You can stab me and poison me. But I can still over power you mentally."

"You're the one that broke my sword?" A old man shoved the door to the side and sprinted after to the edge of the sword. The tiny man jumped off the stage and landed on Alistair's head. He kicked the top of his head while he screamed inaudible words.

The man eventually calmed down and returned to the master's side. His mask was red with a very long tube for lips and giant eyes.

"So you know about the sword? Then you know my parents."

"Correct. The sword you used before you destroyed it through brutish and stupid means"

Kocho tiptoed up to Alistair's ear. "See I'm not the only one." She whispered. Alistair grabbed her head and gently pushed her back to her level.

"Dozen years ago they came down to my village. A pair of idiots that somehow came to my village. A pair summer than any demon." Alistair grit his teeth after each insult but said nothing. "But their knowledge for blacksmithing is beyond any of those I've had in my village. We never kicked them out but never once showed them how to craft any of our swords." He nodded at Alistair. "But they learned our language and picked up slip it's of what we said. Five months later they managed gather enough to eventually leave."

"Twelve years ago? But they came back not even a year ago." Alistair walked to the patio area and knelt down beside Mitsuri. "Please, I respect your story but please tell me what you know from a year back."

"You're mistaken young man. That's all I do know. I had no idea they returned after or even managed to forge a sword in the time." He looked over to the master. "So is this man a member of the corps or is he just a honored guest in your company?"

"Alistair Cornet, if you accept my proposition you can be a member of us. As a rank below our lower rank. Until a proper final selection takes place, I ask you shadow under one of our pillars at all times."

"I accept your proposition."

"Alright so you managed to be a member of the Demon Slayer Corps. He reached in his komoto and pulled out a small scroll. He placed it at the edge of the ground. "Near the time your span requires, a building was burned down. Inside were raw ores of the main component of the swords. Nichirin, but some of the more was already smelted. And none of my clan would dare to risk a smelting process."

Alistair grabbed the scroll and read it. "The location says demons raid the area commonly since the original clear out. Any of them as strong as the one I fought?"

"Actually the one you fought was a unique twelve that are stronger than the last. And you actually lost to the weakest of the group. So maybe you can fight them and win." Kocho again mocked the newly added Demon Slayer.

"For some reason an unexpected number is always there as my men study the makeshift forge. But it's possible to get in there. Please stay here for a week or somewhere you can be easily found until your new sword is forged. And for the love of God don't break this one."

"Kocho, since you're here and the most connected with him. I'd like you to study his efforts when he goes to the broken forge. Until then please also heal him."

"Right away!"

Alistair clenched the scroll in his hand. Bowing his head to both of them and stood up.

"I have a request of my own." Alistair went for his belt and pulled out the guard. He grabbed the handle of the sword and ripped it apart of the guard. "However you make the sword. Just honor my family and add this guard. It's the only thing with my family crest on it."

"It will make for a one of a kind styled sword. We'll create a sword that represents you and honors you and your family."


	4. An Afternoon With The Butterflies

Alistair's body started to heal instant almost instantaneous once the master left with his associate. But the three pillars of the home remained around him. His body burned and sizzled through their time of conversation. The open wounds he once had cauterized and sealed from the outside.

The entire time Kocho poked at any of his wounds. As much as she sounded like she didn't want to heal him, she really did. It was another reason why he was so entranced to the girl, it reminded him of his mother to his father. This could've been the reason why they got along so well. But her attitude was toward everyone with it, the big sister who teased the younger.

Mitsuri's arm was actually broken, a makeshift sling Kocho quickly threw up before the group would split apart. It was a little noticable for her eyes to watch Alistair anytime he talked. Now she was much more fantasized over the old stranger. "Tell me Alistair. You never once fought a demon, almost lost, but can go toe to toe with a pillar. Was this your plan all along to get one of us." Tomioka asked.

"The demon caught me off guard. None of my enemies back at home carry anything like them. But if I was aware all demons use that snow ability I easily can handle myself next time." Alistair bragged. He leaned on his back foot and crossed his arms and made sure to flex his biceps.

"Oh actually he might be the only one. Demon blood arts vary from demon to demon. He is the only one to use that. I thought I mentioned that to you before." Kocho joked.

"Still outside of the pillars, demons nor other men could stand near me." Mitsuri's face became even more red as she looked towards the ground.

"I'll see if Himejima is looking for a successor. His breathing technique might just be a variation of his own." Tomioka turned over to th exit of the back and started walking. "Might as well be useful until I'm called on next."

"I don't plan on. I just need to return with my family and complete my objective. After that, the new training and knowledge I've gained comes back to defend the villa."

Mitsuri grabbed Alistair's arm and tugged it into her chest. Alistair froze, compared to the brudish and meat head women of his town these girls were on another league. He felt just like a teenage boy going after the young mothers. "I always had a rule from when I was younger. I would marry the man whoever beat me in battle."

"I can't lass. I couldn't bring you to Scotland and I can't stay here with you."

She tugged harder, her face pouted and eyes watered. "The offer still stands for you to accept."

Alistair had to bit the inside of his mouth past the point of the breakage of the skin. His eyes drifted back to Kocho, even with the smile her anger hidden beneath raged. Possibly not out of Jealousy, more likely from her admiring his strength. She grabbed his arm and pulled a hefty step from Mitsuri.

"Marriage proposal or not he needs his injuries perfected or else he'll never have the chance for clear thought. A man wearing a skirt like us needs some attention."

Alistair became lightly confused at Kocho's comment. He realized soon after and pulled on one of the folds of the royal blue leather bottoms. "Lass, where I come from this is known as a kilt. Out of style yes but nothing says a man is stronger than his enemy like free feeling cloths." He laughed and brushed off the kilt. "I like it." He showed his leg forward over Kocho's. "Thought it was pretty cool we had the same style."

Kocho clapped her hands and raised them into the air. As Confused as it was for him, Kocho was planning against him. Four people smaller than him tied spiked ropes around each limb and pulled back. For a moment he floated in the air before he was pinned and attached to a sled.

"Oi! I'll come with you." He struggled against the resistance piled against him. "No need to get kinky."

"It's not for you." Kocho tapped Alistair's nose and jumped in front of the quad group.

Without the ability to think of a way to struggle, his body lugged off with the cart. A small ride sure, but one he had no choice. At least the imprisonment was short and sweet as the manor was close by. It was beautiful as the other, a solid, custom construction designed for a safe and hospitable environment. The main trail up was enveloped in flowers with rich scents and butterflies to match.

He was finally released after he was placed inside a stretch of a room lined with hospital beds. Within seconds a handful of girls rushed Into the room, no older than fifteen and the youngest hitting double digits. They stood in a neat line just in font of the door from tallest, to the middle, to the small triplets. Each of them kind've reminded Alistair of Kocho.

"It's alright everyone." Kocho assured the group and waved them off with one hand. While the other went for the knots around Alistair. "I have this one on my own list."

"Are you sure about that Lady Shinobi?" The middle child asked. Her face appeared angry with her assurance. She wasn't mad, more determined than anything.

"I'm sure. I'd like his first healing as member of the Demon Slayer Corp to be done by his senpai."

"Senpai." He mumbled. "Oh I remember now, elder. Wait." He looked up at the smiling girl above him. "How old are you?"

The girls left the room just as the final knot became undone. Behind that large smile that never left, a Aurora blossomed. It wasn't like the beauty of a smile or the grace of butterflies. It felt like a roach on the wall. The pain the creature endured popped through the hidden wings on her back.

"Don't you know to never ask a woman her age?"

Her arms reached for the inside of her butterfly komoto. The devilish sword that only a delicate one could ask to wield. His neck snapped sideways away from the slit of the blade. She stabbed down into the sled and chipped off the first chunk.

In response his hand grabbed the sword's blade. Even with his strength he couldn't break the fancy blade. His enhanced and thickened flesh was no match.

His other hand grabbed her wrist and threw her across the room. Yet she acted like it was a game and landed softly on the bed. She placed her hand over her mouth and giggled. "You didn't cut your hand did you, with that brute grip?"

He looked at his hand and grinned himself. "So what if it did?"

"I had to do it in the privacy of my own home to respect my master's orders. But if I'm right with your skills and your refusal to die against the demon you fought. You're one yourself."

"If I was a demon wouldn't someone of your rank recognize me?" He sat up and joked back to one of the beds. "I got my effects on girls, some guys, but I'm not a demon alright."

She jumped at him with another swing. It missed as he curled in his hip and quickly slid away from a head attack. She hit one wall after one attack and went into another immediately.

Alistair tried his best against each of the attacks. He punched and palmed the blade away with each drive or either slid around the large room.

"Demons are always evolving. It's going to happen eventually that one will slip through." She bounced behind Alistair; she kicked into the back of his knee and held his jaw up with the blade to his throat. "But I know that already. I'm still above any demon I will come across."

"So why ask then? What is this all about?" Alistair flexed his throat and threw his head forward. He pushed past the blade and palm punched the girl's chest across one of the beds. "Why is this coming all of a sudden?"

"Demon Slayers require years of training against demons. Practice and dedication for our practice to get where you are."

Alistair stopped in place, he realized and instinctively stopped. His foot snapped up and flipped the bed rapidly in the air. His foot smashed forward at her. As expected she jumped to the side and flew. He grabbed the other bed and tossed it behind her.

His body glided after his inital jump and caught the girl off guard. He came in front of her path and pinned her against the wall. Alistair grabbed her wrist and bashed it into the same wall. He held her entire hand with the sword and wrapped his legs around her chest.

"I fought for years. I covered my body from scars of torture and annihilation. I've had friends die, brothers and sisters of arms murdered because of me. When I became strong enough to swing a sword I fought for pleasure and business."

He released her and dropped to the ground. Right after Kocho also dropped to the ground with her sword holstered. "I've seen many fight because that's all they knew. But none reached against the twelve moons. Until I met you."

"Then follow me." He surveyed the room while his eyes kept on the girl. Very few items around him could do little more than delay the girl. And that's if he could break them apart before her first strike. "I can't convince you with words of who I am. But my actions will do something for you."

"Pinky promise?" She lowered her sword and held up her hand with her pinky raised.

The action had his body jump from the shock and tumble his feet over. He quickly recovered his stand and walked up to her. He wrapped his pinky around hers and confirmed it with a pump.

"That means you can't leave my side until I can trust you."

Alistair smirked at the small girl. He grabbed her side and plopped her to the ground. "This is better for me than you."

"We'll see how it goes. But now let me treat you properly now."

"And maybe some clothes?"

"I guess I can do that. Oh Konoe!" She aimed her voice for the door. "Can you retrieve some clothing for our guest?"

The tallest girl from the group entered the room with a set of perfectly folded clothes in her hands. Her blank stare matched with a hollow smile left him shaken. A shaken gulp drove down his throat as he grabbed the blueish hospital clothes.

"Thank you young one." He nodded down.

She didn't answer with anything, without a nod, or a verbal response, or even a bat of the eyes. She twisted around and left the room. He looked back at Kocho's lively smile. "Is she not fond of me being here?"

"That's just Konoe. Her personality will never change or dive into either side."

"Alright." He cleared his throat. "You can leave my side for the moment. I promise I won't go anywhere."

"Very proud of your big body. But shy with the smaller body." She walked to the door while she waved behind herself. "I see."

He waited for the door to fully close before he finally relaxed his body. He stumbled to one of the untouched beds. His back fell back with his arms as well. The clothes dropped on his face while an exhausted sigh shouted out.

He pried off the clothes and sat up. "Is she flirting with me or does she act like that to everyone?" He slowly went down the buttons of his kilt and tossed the glorified rag and slipped on the new clothes.

The door swung wide open with the triplets running through the door. The didn't say a word to him unless giggles counted. They didn't to him. They paused for a second to look at him before they snatched away the cloth and ran out.

Finally the last girl made her way into the room after the small ones. She made it two steps into the room and stopped with a large stance and crossed arms. "Lady Kocho asked me to practice with you and warm up your reflexes with you. If you want of course."

"I haven't eaten in a solid day. Any food perhaps?" He pushed himself up and walked to the girl. He patted her head before he got out to the hall.

"Hey! Don't do that!" She scrabbled his hand away but still followed to his side. "If you are that hungry I can get you some food." Her stomach growled shortly after.

"If I may be so forward, let's eat together? I'd like to learn of bit."

"If it is what you request, Lady Kocho told me to accept."

Alistair smiled and laughed. "If you don't want to then you don't."

"No!... I'll do it." She pointed to the right and lowered her head slightly. "Let's eat outside, it's a great view for you to see."

Less than an hour went out as a full meal was laid out into the backyard of the manor. Both him and the small girl sat in slight silence as they picked their feast. It was a simple palette of riches and meats of red and white laid out in separate bowls.

"I overheard you aren't really a Demon Slayer but you know everything." She looked up with her forever pouted face. "Can I know your secret."

Alistair paused eating and grinned at the girl. "What you probably didn't hear is that air spent nearly a decade training under their art's. Without even knowing it!" He laughed and went for another scoop of sticky white rice. "By when I was six I learned about the breathing techniques but to be honest, I thought that's how every fighter did. So swords, breathing, styles, it was built into me."

"And your injuries. After my years of this place I never seen someone in your events come so clean."

Ah." He placed the bowl down and pulled the shirt to expose his shoulder. A giant blackened scar burned around his shoulder. "Thats because of my breathing technique. I make my blood boil and heat up my flesh so it cauterized itself. It maybe genetic but they just dont scar after the healing process is over." He picked up the bowl and ate another spoonful. "Lots of questions."

"Lady Kocho wants to know if she can trust you. And so do I. But it explains your power level against on of the twelve moons."

"I'll tell you something kid. Want to know why I'm here? I came for my parents notes. One of the things they were working on and studying. Imagine building an army where it wasn't about the heaviest build guys, the most money, I mean, guns? Where I come from a sword is nothing. But this technique, I've lived through getting stabbed in the head." He threw his arms up and huffed. "All I want to be is free with my nation. All they have now is my brother and my sister to protect them and hope that nobody invades. Nobody knew me and my parents left." He lowered his head and smiled. "All I want, if my people to be safe."

"That is quite a goal you got there. It's quite admirable. But do you have the skills on your own? If you practice with me I can get you those reflexes and lessons to give back to your homeland."

"That's cute you want to help me, but you sure you can stand with me? I maybe a heavier man but I can still run with a child."

"If you say so."

"I don't mean harm or ill intent. As soon as I get my sword, I'll get my notes. Then return home. I've been gone for a year my wi" he paused. "My willpower to stay away is fading. I feel myself uneasy." He bit his lip. "Evem with the beauty of this land." He took a moment to survey the land before he scooted closer to the girl. "Lady, Kocho, does she fancy anyone in particular?" His only response was a weird look. "Like a partner she gets along with behind the orgsnization?"

"She gets paired up with Tomioka alot 'cause their personalities don't clash very often and their style compliment each other."

"What about romantically?"

"I never seen them nor heard them together if it wasn't for an assignment."

"Good to know. Good to, know."

"I wouldn't try to get close to anyone if I were you." She warned. She gained his full attention as she continued to eat. "They may seem spastic characters off doing whatsoever in their missions. But we're family. Close bunch with each other's backs. The closer you get to any of them, the harder it is to leave."

"Okay little one."

Hours past by without much interest to Alistair. He stayed by himself after the nice lunch that he himself found successful. He returned to the room he was originally left in and organized it back into the original state. A bliss silent room where Kocho only stopped in to examine his body.

To her surprise what he said was true. The way his body produced heat kicked his system into overdrive and frantically healed himself. Similarly to a demon but at much slower rates. The scar was seared shut after focused seconds and immediately started to produce antibodies and cells to the wound. Even the wounds from the fight with Mitsuri was an eight inch smaller than before.

The night came and Kocho left him for the night. But the ease of rest never came for him. The feeling in his senses never turned down, whatever was out there stole his sleep. As he laid in bed and waited, the bliss never came.


	5. On The Fourth Day There Was Light

On the fourth day there was light. A brighter sky than the previous on what he ever saw. Too bad his vision burned and hallucinated nearly all he saw. His middle finger always found a way to stab his flesh and increase the migraine in his mind.

The outside became unbearable to him. The lights in his room became died, all the windows were shut, and the cracks of the door closed up with blankets. He passed the room, doing every activity he could think to wear him down. But nothing worked to enduce his sleep.

For hours he sat on the top of his head. His body completely straight his his arms folded in front of his eyes.

A small knock came from the door. "Hi-o!" Kocho called from the other side. "Is it okay if I come in?" Her voice still sweet without the lingering feeling of judgement.

"I am a guest in the house and I must oblige to the question."

She opened the door. He couldn't see her walk in, close it back, and lie her body to the ground. Her head close to his arms.

"I've returned and heard there was something the matter. The fact you sit in isolation with medical experts questions even me."

"My problems are nothing the girls here should worry about. My situation is not something they should waste themselves on."

"Oh you. The people here are meant to heal the Demon Slayer Corps. Even honorary ones."

Alistair removed his arms and revealed the locked eyes. "Four days and I haven't slept an hour. All I see are people, slanted walls, the sounds burst my ear drums till a ring only plays."

"That's all?" She pouted and reached inside her outfit to pull out a small glass vial. "Well if that's all it is then just take this. You'll fall asleep easy."

He reached for it with wandering figures until it somehow slid into them. Quickly the bottle went into his ready mouth. There was silence for moments, quiet enough to hear the gentle flaps of the birds outside. His body became numb, the stance he fell collapsed along with his legs.

His eyes came open to Kocho's. He matched the appearance of daze, a blank stare into the girl from nothing but lust and wonder. "Why aren't I sleeping?"

"I'm wondering that too. Everything in that should've knocked you out with paralyzation and unconciousness." She jumped up to her feet and squatted back down to grab his arm. It took alot of effort for her to pull his weight to the center of the room and push everything to the wall.

She went back down and sat by the tip of her head. Her smile bent over his face for it to only see that. "Do you trust me?"

"You're all I got that won't kill me."

"Can we be friends." Tears bulged at the edges of his eyes. Tears that Kocho didn't acknowledge. "But you must tell me the truth for us to be friends. So please tell me the truth and I'll tell you the truth."

Her fingers ran through the natural flocks of his golden hair. "I'm scared." He "So god damn scared. Not even the eldest and yet I'm the one in charge. I'm the big one, the smart one. Yet I travel thousands of kilometers away from home to fight creatures stronger than me even with my training."

She started to wipe the tears from his face. His attention to her started to fade from the water and never once saw her become disengaged. The moment was pure, and innocent from unwanted attention.

"I need that sword, I need everything from those who see me differently. But I can't be like my parents and fail. Everyone back home thinks I'm just going there to help them bring everything back." For a single instant he saw just the pure side of her. The side that everybody else saw inside her. "When I go back. I'll just me and a fucking book."

"My name is Shinobu." Her head came fully down to his forehead. "And it's not about getting to your goal as fast as you can. It matters that you make it."

His vision became blackened by her forehead. The bliss. This was the bliss he wanted. It made the cloudiness his mind produce turn into clear skies. He saw the words in his parent's journals in a new view. All those words he memorized circled in a new path.

The upper half of his body jumped up. His body in a pure sweat. "What the?" He was tucked into a bed different from the others. A finer quality of wood with softer and thicker blankets. He saw the tall girl again at the door. Her empty state shifted to the door and left.

The door came open again a breath later. "Good night." Mitsuri whispered as she tiptoed to the bed.

Alistair came quickly to the realization. He twirled out of the bed. His foot connected with Mitsuri's stomach and sent her to the wall. He followed up right away with his hand grappled around her wrists and his other around her throat. Both pinned her against the wall while his feet pounded on her's.

"Is this some joke to you people? That weakness will never show again while I'm here. And you'll be proof of that."

Mitsuri gently blew on his nose just as his grips tightened. He released her throat enough for the words to follow. "No no silly. I said that because it's night time."

Alistair caught the glimpse of the moon's beams through the cracks of each window. He released her and backed away to his bedside. Mitsuri made sure to follow and squeezed her body into the space of his legs. His face turned red at the touch of her hands around his head. She pulled him into her and rested his soul into her chest.

"I heard you have slept for the past two days. I couldn't let the strongest guy I know die like this."

Her hands moved to the edges of his jaw and angled them up. That look was not what Kocho ever gave him. A little more touch and spirit that he always gave her instead.

"You were the reason I couldn't sleep. The bad ember in the forge I felt since I got here."

"I had to make sure my future husband was safe without his weapons."

Before he had the opportunity to respond Mitsuri pulled his lips into hers. Alistair embraced her upon impact; his arms wrapped around her thighs and lifted her up as he jumped up. Their kiss ramped up, huffs of breaths between each space.

A strong tug forced her legs around his waist. He grabbed the collar of her komoto and yanked it off as hard as he could. His arms accidentally tore off the uniform underneath. Mitsuri's laugh followed up with a thick wet lick up the side of his face.

His face planted in the bareness and warmth of her chest. He twirled his body around and slammed her into the bed. Only then the moment rested for her and him.

Mitsuri's fingers grazed around the scars her sword created. "I'm really going to miss these. Always wanted to hold onto a memory of our connection."

His hand tightened around her chest. "Little lass. I always leave a girl with a lasting memory."

The hours drifted by which felt like only minutes in Alistair's mind. The morning rays of the sun perked through brighter than the monk's. A single stretch of one of the slits dragged right into his eyes which promptly cracked them open. The corners of his eyes glowed red as he looked around the room.

He groaned while he pushed himself up to the wall. His lips cracked and cleaned the dryness inside. Alistair cracked his neck his neck over to the open side, and stopped at the sight of her.

"Shinobu? We're you here for long?" Alistair laughed. "We are on a first name base now right?"

"Only if you cry at the base of my legs." Her head slightly tilted to the side and her eyes went south. "With some clothes on."

He pulled the sheets up to a comfortable level. "Then why are you here?"

"The swordsman are here with your sword. In a rather large box." She stood up from her chair and gently slid it to the wall. "Something you're used to."

He waited for the door to close before he swung right out of bed. A single swear came out at the sight of his underwear on the edge of the bed. He snatched them away and threw it on.

"Thank you girls." He grabbed the fresh clothes at the edge of the door frame.

He rushed outside to the open back yard, the closest area to his room. Just as he thought everyone was already there for him. The members of the house, Shinobu, the old man with the red whistling mask, but not Mitsuri. His pace went from a sprint to a eerie step forward to the earth.

"Boy get down and bow you rude child!" The tiny red man demanded.

Reality set into Alistair and he sprinted in front of the old man. One knee up and the other down with a bowed head and resting arms on the upper knee. "I apologize for the lateness. My sleep has been tampered with for the past week."

"A Demon Hunter can go days without sleep, without food! Don't show disgrace toward the name."

"My deepest apologies."

"I must also apologize for my lateness. If you were here on time I wouldn't be. We promised a sword in seven days since our talk, we're three hours late on that promise."

A single man covered from head to toe in a black and white uniform with only his eyes and hands showing circled in front. In his arms a solid wood crate stretching the length of Alistair, he dropped the box and returned behind the old man. Alistair moved his eyes up to the Male's eyes. A small nod in return was what he needed.

Alistair lowered his other knee and popped the lid open.

A sword, ten inches wide from the top to the bottom of the blade. Five slits carved diagonally from the base of the weapon with a small hole a half inch down from each slit. It stretched well over a 100cm to a slanted tip edge of a 110 degree point. The handle, covered over with the gold guard of his old sword.

"It's a beautiful blade." Alistair commented.

He grabbed the sword from the box and lifted it straight up into the air. Not a single wobble came from his swing. The silver blade itself became pure black like smoke entered and filled the blade. The matte color solidified over and cracked up at the top line. Red grooves started to scar over and intertwine with the top design.

"Ah just as we thought. You're doomed!"

"Huh?" Alistair looked at the old man more shocked and curious than frightened.

"A solid black blade means the user is destined for a demise and short life. But the red cracks could entertain the idea of a rare and beyond special swordsman."

"So he isn't just a fool but the greatest fool of them all." Shinobu joked.

"Even with special moments." Alistair whispered to himself. He looked back inside the box and pulled out a special black and while kilt from under the placement hay. A kimono rested on the other side, silver with a black arm, collar, and bottom trim.

"Mitsuri the Love Pillar also sends her gratitude towards you with the uniform."

Alistair's attitude changed; his face now straight and stare solid into the sword. He grabbed the separated harness and threw it over his shoulders. He clipped the sword to it and stood up. "I thank you for all the work you placed into this sword. The effort it must've gone through is far more than my ability as a smith. But now I can finally move forward with my plan." He turned to Shinobu. "Are you ready?"

"Usually they like to talk alot about their swords and the crafting it took to get there. Seems oddly rude to skip before they finish."

"Let the rude boy go. I already delayed his time enough as it is. I warn you. A Demon Slayer scout went into the area. Another moon was spotted."

"Oh dear I hope it isn't from any of the upper six."

"That information was unclear, but travel with caution." The old man warned. His mask faced Alistair before he got up and stood at his feet. A strong slap went hard across his cheek. "Whatever it is that your family was doing on that mountain. Whatever you see, look at it good and destroy it. Demon Slayer secrets should remain that way."

Alistair could only glare while his breathing became heavy and slow. His hand clenched tighter around the grip as he held back his actions. The man took his look better than Alistair thought. He simply bowed slightly at him and turned away.

"I'm surprised." Kocho surprised him with her face so close to his ear. "The muscles in your neck said you really wanted to hit him."

"I do." He grumbled. He placed his hands on his knee and shoved his body up. "I don't need unwanted swords at my throat."

"You ready for the trip then? It isn't a nice trip up."

"We have your bags all set!" One of the small triplets shouted.

Another held up a small gray sack with a giant smile. "We packed it with all the essentials you'll need!"

"Lady Mitsuri added her own touches to it!" The third one added. She grabbed the bag from the other and skipped up to Alistair.

"I want you all to witness what I have to say and decide then if you wish to further your involvement with me." He looked around at the various types of Slayers at his side. "If any order I receive goes against my own moral views I will not hesitate to break them. I'm telling you right now, everything I find I will keep and bring back. Fight me on this, and I will not hesitate."

"That also means I can do the same to you. And I promise to you. On my own moral code, I won't hesitate to end your life." Shinobu's sinister smile stopped at Alistair's face.

"When your eyes and actually meet mine, I'll hold that threat." Alistair swung the sword around his back. "But you still have my back?"

"That was my orders. And it follows my moral code."

Alistair let out an exhausted sigh. "I get it."

The mountains weren't far in the sense that it was less than a day's travel. A dozen degree different and another season entirely. Summer turned into fall, a skinny dip became a cuddled up campfire. And a quiet stroll became a cautious ready search and seizure.

The pair looked up the mountain. Months and months after the last reported residency of the hills, the smoke still rose above the line. "That fire. My parents called it the Phoenix ember. As long as there is a source, there will always be a flame. They didn't intend to leave here. And they didn't intend to clean up."

"So you're confident that what you're looking for is still up there?" She asked. "Or else you'll look very stupid on the way down."

"If the ember still burns, they'll still be there. Whatever it is that I'm looking for."


	6. A Quick Ended Journey

The air became cold out of no where. Snow nor the lack of oxygen could've made this much of a difference. Other than at the base of the mountain, there were no other demons around. But Kocho still felt the presence of those stronger than the rest.

As they entered the clearing that held the smoker's origin, nothing was there. The pile of ash and charcoal was left alone with obvious signs of rummaging. Handprints and tracks from probably slayers and demons alike ran wild in every direction.

Alistair knelt down in prayer to the ash. His left arm held out close to the pile, the unique change of pressure running through the groves of his hand.

His hand whipped behind his back and hammered the blade into the ground. He twisted the blade around the dirt before he pulled it back out and tossed it aside. Alistair stuck his hand into the hole and moved the dirt around. His flesh wrapped around a fold of hardened leather and tugged right back. The fresh hair left the edges of his wrist with coldness.

"Breath of Iron. For three!" His other fist pounded at the very end of his handle, the blade shot out and into the air.

It connected with his target and the grip around him loosened. He went to retaliate; he grabbed the hand and slammed the body into the old ash pile. He gripped the handle again and yanked the sword to him with another breath form.

The blue eyes was nearly entirely covered by the character of a lower moon. Another came behind him post-adrenaline craze. "It's okay, it's just me." Kocho whispered into his ear. "I couldn't protect you, I wasn't fast enough for two of them."

A upchucking sensation grew in his side. It was smooth but didn't react smooth to his inside. His body started to singe close the open wound before too much blood stained the grass.

Kocho covered her laugh in a veil attempt to silent it down. "I didn't think a strong man like you would fall this weak to a small attack. I guess I have to work harder to save you next time."

Alistair clenched his side and gripped tightly around the book. He flipped the book over his shoulder and flicked around the covers. "I can take a blade just fine. But I got the book." He wrapped his arm around Kocho's shoulder.

The beat in his heart froze, Alistair clamped the nearly closed wound with one hand and swung the other. He twisted his arm and grabbed Kocho's shoulder; his grip tightened into her and forced her back. He followed with her and tucked her inside him.

A new man appeared in their old spot. A thin white man covered in blue, all symmetrical lines down his body. Alistair held his sword over Kocho while she softly hid in his shell.

It was overly slight that Alistair's fingers felt the shiver of Kocho's shoulder. "I never felt his presence." She said in awe, her body naturally went for the sword on her side. "He's an upper moon, no doubt about it."

The odd man swiveled around to face them. "You are a fast one. Sneaking past the guard and finding the book before all of us." He spoke. "We could use you as a demon! Imagine how fast you could be with that size!"

His eyes had the character for '3' engraved into his blue eyes. A cold shiver crawled up to Kocho's chest. "You have to run. You're not prepared for this." She warned him. She pushed out of his barrier and stood her ground.

Alistair rested his hand onto her hip. He pulled her back and stood where she once did. "You want to know what kept me awake and sane for four days?" Alistair asked. His muscles tightening down and stretched his skin. "The girls told me everything about your life. Form seven! Draw out." He thrusted his sword forward and dragged his body with it.

The demon dodged to the side with no effort to it and countered with own punch. Alistair reacted back and dug the sword into the ground. His fist bounced off the sword and slightly burned against the metal.

"Ever since the start you were set behind! Form four!" The blade dug through the dirt and at the man. Alistair never lost sight of the demon but chose to avoid him with the attack. "You were born smaller, weaker, set differently!" Alistair jumped on the side of the sword and jumped after the demon with the sword in hand. "Form three!"

The demon's speed made it seem like he teleported at his side. His fist connected with Alistair's arm and popped it clean apart of his bones. "I only heard one crack in your arm. Very strong indeed! The demon held his fist into the strike and slammed down with Alistair still on him.

"Form seven!" The sword in the other arm swung the sword in a bizarre and uncoordinated fashion. One clean his chopped the demon's arm off and across the rest of his body.

He bounced away from the assailant and back to Kocho. "They told me how you took the mantle, took away your youngling years to lead your familia. But Shinobu." He turned to her with a smile on his face. "I want to be there at your side for the rest."

"So you'll leave your home, your family, for me?" She couldn't help but laugh, only this time felt genuine to her. "That's rather stupid."

"Love makes you stupid!" Alistair held his sword like a javelin and thrusted it forward. His back hand wide open became filled with a metal casing.

Another hand grabbed the back of his hair and tugged back. A small kiss of soft lips pecked his jaw. "Don't break your promise to me first."

"Form nine!" His hand spazzed like streaks of light from the sun. A dozen strikes faced in each angle around the flying sword.

The demon moved to the side. Alistair was just as ready, he matched the demon's spot while his hand kept the swing.

By this time his body recovered like nothing happened. His arm came back and all the stab wounds dissapeared. Yet Alistair was closer than ever to the demon's neck. He could feel the resistance of the demon's neck against the blade.

To him he felt like he was going to complete what Kocho wanted in her life. His muscles flexed harder and shoved his fist harder. Even the fear in the demon's eyes were shown.

Then it changed; his blade clipped upwards with only a deep cut ending. Alistair was knocked back with Kocho to catch him. He pulled the book from his kilt pocket and shoved it into Kocho's top.

"Run. Make sure my family gets it." He turned to her with pure sorrow in his eyes. "Promise me you'll take it."

"I can't break the orders I was given. You give me this and I will destroy it."

Alistair rubbed his thumb around the bottom curve of her eye lid. "I made a promise to kill the demons here and I'll do it. But promise me my brother will at know what we all died for."

"I" Alistair grabbed her sharp jaw and pulled her in. His lips against hers, blocking anything she could say. His hands rolled down to her sides, feeling the silk of her uniform. He grabbed the curves of her hips and pushed her down the hill.

He felt a blade enter his kidney and a body smack against his back. "You are brave, taking one of the upper moon as a Demon Slayer." The owner called, pushing the blade upwards.

Alistair's eyes could see the other demon attempt to race down the hill. He elbowed the other man with a fiery point and jumped toward the other. He pinned the pink hair demon to the ground and locked both his arms in his. Alistair gripped both elbows in and pulled them back with a hard snap.

He spun back around and grabbed the blade that swung against him. He slammed the new demon in the ground and smashed his fist where the demon's head should've been. But it managed to step up to his feet and land another stab into Alistair's pelvis.

He looked for his sword with no avail. He became unprepared for the next attack into his right peck. The sword drove straight to the guard and pinned Alistair to the dirt.

The demon pulled another blade, Alistair's own sword. At this angle he held no power to stop him; his arms wide out unable to move along with his legs.

The demon acted like he pitied Alistair, even as a demon with six eyes he still felt like a human. His face straight without any anger in any wrinkle. He stepped his foot forward and stabbed straight down. The foot thick blade went clean through his ribcage and out the other end.

And through all this, Alistair's body burned, barely alive to keep him that way. Steam poured out both ends and cauterized whatever blood poured out.

At this point he couldn't hear. A straight and constant scream in a single note. A third demon showed up, his appearance happy and joyous. The first demon punched the third before he left out and still the third kept a laugh.

The third observed Alistair, peeking at the wound before he poked the black blade. Alistair couldn't move, as much as he wanted to punch the demon he couldn't.

The third went up to Alstair's ear. He heard the laugh before he caressed the blade. "I could turn you into a demon and save your life. Our master would want nothing less than to see a new moon appear in the ranks."

Alistair moved his lips without any words. Taking the notice of the second demon, now his eyes returned to a single set. He moved his own head and pulled the third away. Alistair moved more of his lips to the demon, who appeared to know what he said.

He himself moved into Alistair's ear with his sword in his hand. He moved into the lobe while the blade pressed against Alistair's neck. "She'll live. For today."


End file.
